“You’re the most interesting brain-injury case I’ve ever seen. You can see physics!” (Dr. Saunders to Ethan)
I was captivated by this story! There was something so very uplifting and positive about it. There was this feel-good feeling all along the way when I was reading it, and then the last few chapters will put you on the edge-of-your-seat even! It seems to have come along at a very perfect time, as it was a lovely story to lose myself in.
Relativity was the first book in a group of 5 being read for a Simon & Schuster Canada blog tour. #ReadChillRepeat is the tagline for their Summer Fiction Blog Tour and so far, the books have proven to be excellent choices for great summer fiction! Stayed tuned over the next 5 weeks as 5 books are unveiled, you’ll certainly want to add them to your summer reading lists!
Graeme Simsion wrote a blurb for Relativity, which genuinely sums up much of what I loved about Relativity: “Original, compassionate, cleverly plotted and genuinely difficult to put down.”
I certainly agree about the originality, it is also a smartly plotted story, indeed genuinely difficult to put down and contains some of the most wonderful characters you’ll read about this summer.
Ethan suffered a brain injury when he was an infant, and his mother Claire, a former ballerina is raising him alone. There are some questions as to the father’s role in that accident, as he is no longer a part of their close-knit family. But, was Ethan’s injury truly an accident? There is this wonderful element of mystery threaded throughout Relativity – the reader is never truly provided with the clear answers or reasons for Ethan’s brain injury, that is, until nearing the very end. Then, it fairly explodes from the pages and turns into an edge-of-your-seat-read as the lead up to and the revelation of the cause of Ethan’s injury is fully explained. It shows how quickly and simply a split-second can alter just about everything.
However, as this reveal doesn’t happen until the end of the story, you are treated to characters that will warm your heart. Ethan is this fantastic kid that is unusually gifted and obsessed with physics and astronomy. His mother Claire is hyper concerned for his well-being and keeps any information about his father, Mark, from him as much as she possibly can.
That is, until Mark needs to return to Sydney to be with his dying father. Mark’s father has one last wish to see Ethan, and Mark must navigate the stormy past with Claire to see if he can grant that dying wish.
Ethan has a serious seizure where he must be hospitalized, and there he finds out more about his brain injury, something that is a complete surprise to him, it’s not only that he’s incredibly special and gifted, but that this may have been done intentionally to him. While in the hospital, he finds a great best-friend in the girl in the hospital bed beside him, Allison. Allison is a complete treat and the relationship she and Ethan develop makes for wonderful reading.
Now that Ethan has some pieces of the puzzle coming together, he is determined to find out about his father and about what truly happened to him. This even includes a failed time-machine attempt and really, the whole of Relativity will bring you joy, but some thought-provoking sadness too.
The story is told in alternating voices – Ethan, Claire and Mark. Mark so interestingly illustrates this neat equation for Ethan — E=MC2 (Ethan = Mark and Claire). I can’t imagine you won’t fall in love with Relativity! There are a final few paragraphs on “gravity” that are totally worth the read too! And….hey! Simon & Schuster Canada is giving away a copy of Relativity and the exciting winner that entered on the Literary Hoarders Facebook page is….drum roll please….Charlotte Brotschi! Congratulations, please send us your address information (via our email address) so we can send it to S&SC!
Enjoy!
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